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Thanks drunkle the first one I tried outside on grill. It didn't get hot enough so I brought it inside but I think some of them may have cracked. Then I brought it inside and tried to stop at the end of the first crack. The second one I think I went to when I started hearing that 2nd popping sound. Does fresh coffee just tastes nutty and toasted or is that due to the light roast. Or maybe the colombian.
 
TrickyDick said:
Thanks for the heads up,

I can't justify buying anymore. I have a crap ton of green beans on hand, and need to learn to limit my stock. I can't yet fit them all into three empty beer bottle cases if that tells you how much I overbought. I think as I really started getting into roasting, I had limited stock of green beans, and just started buying anything that sounded decent. Then something great sounding would come along and I'd buy that too. Bottom line is I need to whittle down my inventory before I jump on anything more.

TD
Click to expand...

I'm really going to start limiting my stock. I'm thinking that the often quoted 1 year shelf life of green coffee is BS. Coffees that i really enjoyed 6 months ago taste pretty flat and boring to me now.
 
Yeah I learned the overstock lesson the hard way myself a long time ago.

5lbs is a big order for me and I'll only do 10lbs if it's a unicorn. I hate seeing a good coffee come up and knowing I'm already overstocked.

I agree, coffee degrades fairly quickly. Some folks vac seal greens in jars and freeze it which is reported to work well.
 
pricelessbrewing said:
Catching up on this thread. Had never heard of bodhi leaf before, checked their website and checked shipping to chicago. Sure yeah I'll go ahead and order the free pickup from california. I'll get right on that...
Click to expand...

They sell on ebay with free shipping. I got 5 lbs of Sumatra Mandheeling for under $15.
 
Speaking of stock, an hour ago I got a call that somebody I sometimes felt to wants 10 - 12 pounds of roasted coffee by Monday. Not just that, but he wants Custom Blends. I don't even have that much in stock right now - at least not that I'm willing to part with. I have 10 pounds of beautiful Ethiopian but I hate to Let It Go to a bunch of people who won't enjoy it as much as me.
 
applescrap said:
Thanks drunkle the first one I tried outside on grill. It didn't get hot enough so I brought it inside but I think some of them may have cracked. Then I brought it inside and tried to stop at the end of the first crack. The second one I think I went to when I started hearing that 2nd popping sound. Does fresh coffee just tastes nutty and toasted or is that due to the light roast. Or maybe the colombian.
Click to expand...

The nutty toasty flavor could be from the light roast, or possible drinking it too soon after roasting. Most coffee tastes better a day or so after roasting, some dry process coffee a few more. Your roast does not look too consistent, especially the lighter roast, maybe play with temp or the amount of beans to a get a more consistent color to the beans.
 
applescrap said:
Thank you everyone for inspiring me to get some green beans. Now i need some sage advice. Funny, we had a whirly pop sitting around for the last 5 years. We've tried to give it away sell it, etc. Haha. Started with Colombian and Cameroon. I tried to stop at what I thought was a light roast and I like it but it is really light. I like light roast because it has more caffeine. My wife said it tasted nutty and toasted. I tried to do one darker and it still tastes nutty and roasted. Are these just to light? Thanks again for the inspiration.
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Definitely under-roasted.

Stir like crazy and go for darker beans, but leave the buttcrack light. That's what I do, and I love my coffee.

There's a small window between under-roasted coffe, great coffee and starbucks coffee. You can do it, but with the same equipment you need to change only one variable at a time, get your process down, then repeat. So, assuming your temperature is not changing, keep extending the time by a minute or two. Do a pound at a time. Make notes! Label the products of these samples.

Visually compare, and a couple of days later make coffee with each. Once you have something you really like, that's your process.

It's easier than beer because you can do a bunch of iterations in one day, and test the product almost immediately.
 
passedpawn said:
Definitely under-roasted.

Stir like crazy and go for darker beans, but leave the buttcrack light. That's what I do, and I love my coffee.

There's a small window between under-roasted coffe, great coffee and starbucks coffee. You can do it, but with the same equipment you need to change only one variable at a time, get your process down, then repeat. So, assuming your temperature is not changing, keep extending the time by a minute or two. Do a pound at a time. Make notes! Label the products of these samples.

Visually compare, and a couple of days later make coffee with each. Once you have something you really like, that's your process.

It's easier than beer because you can do a bunch of iterations in one day, and test the product almost immediately.
Click to expand...



This guy is smart.

Hi coffee guys. I'm still hooked, just don't hang out.
 
Thanks passedpawn and ba-brewer, great advice. I was changing temperature, and didnt let coffee rest as two key things that come to mind. Also, good call on sloppy stirage passed. It was 1030 at night and outside on my gas grill. i was trying to keep it cool haha. I couldnt resist.
 
applescrap, Pan roasting is difficult to get consistent roasts but it can be done with practice. I did not have the patience when I tried pan roasting so I added a heat gun and was very happy with how that coffee turned out.

This was my setup for the first couple years of roasting. Very hands on but I had very good control of the heating and could visually see the roast progression.

P1010040.jpg
 
ba-brewer said:
applescrap, Pan roasting is difficult to get consistent roasts but it can be done with practice. I did not have the patience when I tried pan roasting so I added a heat gun and was very happy with how that coffee turned out.



This was my setup for the first couple years of roasting. Very hands on but I had very good control of the heating and could visually see the roast progression.



P1010040.jpg
Click to expand...


Were you mounting the heat gun to free up a hand?
 
I feel okay about using the whirly pop on the stove plus the door opens so I can see it. This is interesting. The first cup was fairly translucent which I'm chalking up to the light roast? Anyways I put some more water in there just to see what would happen and the second Runnings weren't much lighter if they were at all? I retried the test and the second Runnings were lighter. With coffee this light is it just imperceptible except in flavor. Is grind off? I used a Krups grinder. Thanks. Ps I am freaking ramped up from drinking a s*** ton of light coffee.

View attachment 1466265263226.jpg

View attachment 1466265277009.jpg
 
BrewinBromanite said:
Were you mounting the heat gun to free up a hand?
Click to expand...

I had from time to time mounted it, but it did not buy much as I was standing there stirring anyways. It took like 10-12min per batch not a big deal holding it, even doing 4 or 5 back to back batches in a session. The draw back was I smelled like a coffee bean after.
 
Apple what's your ratio of coffee to water? That looks more like a weak coffee than a light roast. Many people brew 16:1 water to coffee weight
 
My first batch also came out with very weak body. I also believe I went too light on the first batch (just after first crack). I was doing it in the oven and checked the temp too much, I think they never got hot enough. Finally got a good second crack on batch #3 and body is much improved.
 
I'm not sure about tablespoons (I weigh them) but I frequently end my roasts about 20 secs after 1st crack ends and I get body. Oh, do I get it.

I wonder if your roast may have been a little slow. How long did it take to get to 1c?
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
I'm not sure about tablespoons (I weigh them) but I frequently end my roasts about 20 secs after 1st crack ends and I get body. Oh, do I get it.

I wonder if your roast may have been a little slow. How long did it take to get to 1c?
Click to expand...

Sorry to hijack from other poster, but I had a similar problem. My first batch with low body indeed took about 18 minutes to first crack, I think because I was opening the oven to check too much. So longer roast = weaker body?
 
Longer roast = underdeveloped coffee. Bready, nutty (not in a good way).

Hit 1c in 9 to 12 min and you should be good. For the most part
 
^^this could be it! I tried on grill. Had to move in because figured it was taking to long. Finished inside quickly. All told 17 minutes or so. Second (darker) batch 5 or 6 minutes to 1c. Nice new oven on high. 2 big tbl = 13 grams, 1/2 oz i would guess. 1/4 (+ a little) cup coffee for 10 oz water.
 
Roasted some cameroon the other coffee I bought. Was able to spin the Whirley Pop quicker and think got a more consistent roast; the picture isn't entirely Fair. Or maybe it is and I just don't want to be honest. Kept the stove on high to First crack at about 6 minutes maybe a little less then turned down a little bit to finish somewhere in the middle of the second crack at 8 minutes. Tryed for dark beans with tan butt crack but think I only got just right on the edge of medium dark roast. Thanks again everybody for your help

View attachment 1466354068067.jpg
 
Well I was due for a failed roast. Tried roasting Columbian fir the first time in about 1.5yrs and about 3 mins in the power went out for one second. On the Behmor, even in manual mode, this changes everything when you restart it.

But I tried to save my 12oz of beans anyways and I ended up with a 16 min roast where 1c rolled straight into 2c. I never ever ever roast coffee into 2c so its a waste for me.

Funny how a brief power outage can do that to you.
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Well I was due for a failed roast. Tried roasting Columbian fir the first time in about 1.5yrs and about 3 mins in the power went out for one second. On the Behmor, even in manual mode, this changes everything when you restart it.

But I tried to save my 12oz of beans anyways and I ended up with a 16 min roast where 1c rolled straight into 2c. I never ever ever roast coffee into 2c so its a waste for me.

Funny how a brief power outage can do that to you.
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That might actually make a great coffee to add into a stout. I've found light roasts taste out of place in a dark beer. Someday I'm gonna take a Yemeni to the first snap of 2C for an imperial stout... If only I could stop brewing IPA's for once
 
Question for any of you coffee roasting connoisseurs. Anyone have experience with the Hario Glass RCR-50 Non-Electric Home Roaster? Looks pretty interesting. Looks like it wouldn't turn out very large batches, and completely manual (not a downside for me), but I like the fact that you could actually watch the roast in action compared to some I see on the market. No clue about how hot it gets or how quickly it would roast, but the drum seems like it would lend itself to a fairly even roast. I'm just in the "getting interested in roasting phase" - and reading a lot, so quite new to all this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IC53ZW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BrewinBromanite said:
Question for any of you coffee roasting connoisseurs. Anyone have experience with the Hario Glass RCR-50 Non-Electric Home Roaster? Looks pretty interesting. Looks like it wouldn't turn out very large batches, and completely manual (not a downside for me), but I like the fact that you could actually watch the roast in action compared to some I see on the market. No clue about how hot it gets or how quickly it would roast, but the drum seems like it would lend itself to a fairly even roast. I'm just in the "getting interested in roasting phase" - and reading a lot, so quite new to all this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IC53ZW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

50g (~2oz) batches and $265? That's crazy. I think you'd be better off with a fresh roast sr700 (although i've never used one myself).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BrewinBromanite said:
Question for any of you coffee roasting connoisseurs. Anyone have experience with the Hario Glass RCR-50 Non-Electric Home Roaster? Looks pretty interesting. Looks like it wouldn't turn out very large batches, and completely manual (not a downside for me), but I like the fact that you could actually watch the roast in action compared to some I see on the market. No clue about how hot it gets or how quickly it would roast, but the drum seems like it would lend itself to a fairly even roast. I'm just in the "getting interested in roasting phase" - and reading a lot, so quite new to all this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IC53ZW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

I'd say if you are interested in a manual roaster, save the $240 and buy a Whirlypop and tape the top flap open so you can watch the roast and take infrared temp probe readings.
 
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TallDan said:
50g (~2oz) batches and $265? That's crazy. I think you'd be better off with a fresh roast sr700 (although i've never used one myself).
Click to expand...
Wow, that is smaller than I was thinking it was.

HarborTownBrewing said:
I'd say if you are interested in a manual roaster, save the $240 and buy a Whirlypop and tape the top flap open so you can watch the roast and take infrared temp probe readings.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, more reading is in order. Thanks for the quick replies.
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
I'd say if you are interested in a manual roaster, save the $240 and buy a Whirlypop and tape the top flap open so you can watch the roast and take infrared temp probe readings.
Click to expand...

So that's the answer . Thanks, my thumb was getting hot. Plus every time it fell (the dastardly lid), I had to stop stirring to open it and that led to some inconsistency. Sorry to hear about your batch.
 
Following up on my accidental dark roast, its actually pretty good. Blueberries and licorice. I wouldn't choose it every day but I'll take it!
 
Screwed up a Sumatra today. My heads just not in it lately. This one should be okay, but not great. I hit the wrong button at the beginning of 1c and meant to reduce heat to 25% but only reduced to 75%. Guess we'll see.
 
I have been trying to catch up on the thread so give me a little time. It's an enjoyable read . So I'm becoming more used to this light roast. One reason I wanted to roast my own in the first place was to get light roast. The light roast is very grainy and nutty tasting still but it's really good. It's apparent that letting the coffee rest a few days Mellows it and balances it out after roasting. Still looking for more thoughts and comments on light roasted coffee. Keeping the caffeine completely intact is one bonus that I like. The grounds are so light in color. Here's a picture of the beans again

View attachment 1466695621903.jpg
 
Pics are always tough to tell, but that looks a little light to me. I can't recall what kind of bean you are roasting, or if you mentioned hot long after 1C you stopped the roast. If you are looking for a light roast, you may want to stop the roast about 20-30 secs after 1C ends.

"Grainy and Nutty" can be normal flavors in some coffees, but they can also be characteristics of underdeveloped coffee. If it were too light a roast, it would taste my grassy or like a green tea.

Regarding the caffeine comment, my thoughts are you aren't going to pick up a lot more caffeine in roasting light. If you want more caffeine content by volume, I'd suggest roasting the coffee as dark as you want it so it tastes as you want it to, and simply adding more beans when you are brewing it so it's a stronger cup.
 

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